Hawaii County police arrested a 34-year-old man for allegedly killing a man whose badly decomposed body was found over the weekend in Puna.
An autopsy ruled the death as a homicide, police said. The medical examiner concluded that the unidentified human remains were those of a man and that he died of gunshot wounds.
Detectives are seeking dental records to confirm the victim’s identity.
The remains were found Saturday in the area of Beach Road off Makuu Drive in the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision in Puna. Police initially said that due to the advanced state of decomposition, gender and identity could not be readily determined.
Police executed a search warrant at 2:35 p.m. Tuesday at a Hilo home and arrested the suspect, who has no permanent address, on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear.
He was arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder, three counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, second-degree theft and weapon charges.
The man remains in the police cellblock but has not been charged.
Pedestrian hit by vehicle critically injured
A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle and critically injured Tuesday at about 5:40 p.m. near North King Street and Dillingham Boulevard in Kapalama, police said.
Details of the accident were not available. Police closed the Ewa-bound lanes of North King Street at Liliha Street for about two hours.
Escapee recaptured by police in Waikiki
A Hawaii State Hospital escapee known on Kauai as the “Jesus Bandit” was captured Tuesday morning in Waikiki.
Richard Leibman, who escaped from the State Hospital at about 6:40 p.m. Saturday by walking out an unlocked door, was taken by police at 1:48 a.m. on Kalia Road near the Halekulani Hotel.
Leibman, 38, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree escape. He was being held at the main police station.
The Garden Island newspaper reported that residents on Kauai’s north shore gave him the nickname “Jesus Bandit” because he wore a robe and had long hair and a beard.
